Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh arrived in Indonesia on Sunday for a two-day official visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, this is the first visit of Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh to the ASEAN Secretariat and Indonesia.
After reaching Jakarta on Sunday evening, Dr Singh interacted with the Indian community and thanked them for their hospitality. MoS Dr Rajkumar Ranjan wrote on Twitter, “Had the pleasure to interact with Indian Diaspora in Jakarta this evening. Gratitude to the Indian community for their warmth and affection.”On Monday, Dr Singh met ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi and inaugurated the ASEAN-India Network of Universities (AINU) along with Sunaina Singh. In a tweet, Minister Dr Rajkumar Ranjan wrote, “As we celebrate 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations, had fruitful discussions with Secretary General of @ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi in Jakarta, to further strengthen and elevate ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership as we work together to build an Asian Century.”
According to the MEA, AINU was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in 2018, as a consortium of prestigious institutions from India and ASEAN. It aims to create a core network of knowledge capital in India through collaboration between academic and research institutions and ASEAN member states.